Talk:Tank
What is the absoulute best tanking equipment that can be found in the game? Jackimole 23:22, February 27, 2010 (UTC) :That hugely depends on your definition of tanking. Refer to my Tanking: An Alternative Approach for some gear suggestions. Keep in mind the '+X% to healing' modifier is badly bugged, so some universally sought after tank gear, like Fade Wall, for example, is greatly overrated. IN 23:41, February 27, 2010 (UTC) Early Game Gear Spell Resistance How exactly do you get 100% spell resistance? Your alternative tanking approach only mentions knight-commander's armour, spellward and key to the city, which is only 74%. With ancient elven gloves and antivan boots, that becomes 82%, but neither of those are particularly tanky. Being a dwarven noble would raise that to 92%, but that's still not 100%. The only feasible way I can see to get 100% is becoming a mage (especially arcane warrior for spellweaver), but then you don't have taunt. (talk) 08:04, July 13, 2010 (UTC)Aeonstorm You can easily get a +26% from 1 GM dweomer rune and 2 M dweomer rune. That brings you up to 108% spell resistance which is over the cap. Fell free to replace 1 M dweomer rune or 2 of the following: key to the city, antivan leather boots and ancient elven gloves. I do suggest to remove key to the city (give to your dps character) and antivan leather boots. Ideal Tank - Alistair Only? What is wrong with Sten? When you get him (around lvl 6-7), he will have: Taunt, Threaten, Indomitable, and be only 1 talent away from Two-Handed Sweep. Although he has no Archery talents to start with, neither does Alistair. When you look at it from a Talent point of view, Sten starts with ZERO talents that won't be used in a 2-h Tank build, whereas Alistair starts with 4 (his Weapon and Shield talents). And even though Alistair starts as a Templar, Sten starts with no specialization. So you can train him to become both a Templar (for Knight Commander's Plate) and Reaver (for Frightening Appearance). Granted, Alistair has great dialogue. I really love the comedy, but, just from a Perfect-Tank point of view, isn't Sten a better choice? Sten would be the perfect choice if he coud get two specializations. Sadly he can only acquire 1. Therefore, he's 1 of the crappiest party members in the game along w/ ohgren, dog and loghain. Ripstrawberry (talk) 10:27, September 9, 2010 (UTC) Ohh. I thought he could acquire 2 specs. I'm sorta still new to the game. I thought Companions could acquire 2 specs each. Thanks for the reply! All Companions *except* Sten can acquire 2 specs each in Origins, 3 in Awakening. Sten's just special that way. --JimmyTheCannon (talk) 06:51, February 2, 2012 (UTC) Awakening ---- ---- Tanking strategies for Awakening should be posted here too, as they are very different than in origins, for one, shields are much better than in the original, and outweigh the bonuses of a two-handed weapon. alternate approach How viable is this build as opposed to the traditional champion/templar sword and shield allistair tank in origins? The one constant through out my playthroughs has been allistair holding the line while my rogue dps' and my mages aoe or cc. i have never had problems with him drawing aggression with just threaten taunt and warcry but the ability to spray scattershots and do aoe knockbacks is interesting. However, it is at the cost of 5 armor 10 defense from shield wall and what ever bonuses from the shield, and perhaps most importantly, immunity to flanks. In terms of dps both are pretty low and 2handed is only marginally better. :I must admit, after reading the reasoning on threat management it makes sense. But like you my 1h/shield Alistair doesn't seem to have trouble holding agro - the vast majority of combat simply doesn't throw enough enemies at you for management to be a problem, especially since your party members won't be just sitting behind the tank. Hell, I'm almost tempted to swap in another dual-wielding rogue for the dps. 2 of these guys (Warden, Zevran/Leliana) and 2 mages (Morrigan, Wynne) and nothing should be a problem. The only downside is that the party looks to be quite squishy but I don't know how big of a problem that is considering the damage output. :I don't suppose making Alistair a dual-wielder is any consideration? From what I hear warrior duals are kinda meh compared to rogues because they don't get our backstab bonuses. - Trucidation (talk) 14:52, November 7, 2010 (UTC) ::Warrior dual-wielders would (theoretically, anyway) rely on swords or other Main Hand weapons (with Dual Weapon Mastery), as without backstab, most daggers just aren't good enough. That said, they're not good tanks, because they get no immunities - a tank who can be easily knocked down and stunned is a tank who will lose friends fast. Dual Weapon Warriors are more for DPS than Tanking. --JimmyTheCannon (talk) 06:54, February 2, 2012 (UTC) Just remembered my 1h/shield Alistair uses a lot of knockdowns - I set many of his tactics to use the first branch of 1h/shield skills. Fairly sure that's helped quite a few times. A 2h Alistair won't be able to do this (pommel swing is the sole knockdown), albeit with indomitable he'll be immune to knockdown himself. Thing is, I've tried a 2h warrior myself and the attacks seem painfully slow. Wait, 1h/shield also has anti-knockdown: Shield Wall. So the only difference is that 2h warriors get 2h Sweep for additional threat. But 1h/shield still looks more survivable, not to mention the multiple knockdown skills and faster attacking. Guess I'll stick with my 1h/shield Alistair for now, until I build a party with more melee. I think my two mages are a big contributing factor in not requiring so much agro management: both of them are quick to pull out cone of cold or mindblast. I suppose tanks shine better in parties comprising of other meleers and archers. - Trucidation (talk) 03:01, November 8, 2010 (UTC) :Another difference is Indomitable also gets immunity to stuns where Shield Wall with Mastery doesn't. Also, even without 2h Sweep, a two hander should be better at drawing threat because he's doing more damage with regular attacks than a one-handed weapon could. ::Drawing threat from a single target is hardly a problem. The problem is drawing threat from multiple targets at once. But even this isn't a problem for 1H with the right specializations. Holy Smite in Templar, War Cry (With Superiority) with Champion, and Frightening Appearance with Reaver. While 2H gives you Indomitable, 1H gives you protection against ranged attacks and flanks, which is just as important, if not moreso, than stuns. In terms of being able to take damage, 1H easily wins, with its protection from ranged attacks, flanks, stun attacks, and higher defense. --Hulkweazel (talk) 18:23, August 5, 2011 (UTC) Shield tank not viable in Origins? The way the alternative tanking strategy sounded makes it seem like that is the ideal choice for tanking. However, I seem to have had pretty good results using Alistair as a tank myself, even without Scattershot or Two-Handed Sweep. Does that really only apply on Nightmare? I beat the game with a party of Alistair, Leliana, Wynne and a rogue Warden (Duelist/Assassin backstabber), and had very few problems on Hard mode. I'm guessing the bonus of using the Weapon/Shield talents is not needing a high amount of dex. for evasion or something? If someone could elaborate on that, that would be great, thanks! :A Weapon and Shield tank doesn't get access to knockdown immunity until level 12. The "alternative approach" article seems to draw its emphasis from three major points: 1. Late access to knockdown immunity makes weapon and shield less attractive, 2. Limited slots for +X% Spell Resistance runes makes Indomitable more attractive than boosting Physical Resistance, 3. Nightmare enemies do more damage faster so threat management is more important. :The alternative approach is extremely biased and needs cleaning up. It is definitely NOT the ideal choice for tanking - it's just another possibility if you don't want your main tank stunlocked. I can tank just fine with a weapon and shield tank on nightmare (Plus mods that increase difficulty). In fact, I have a difficult time seeing how a warrior can successfully tank at that level without the use of a shield since they will just be demolished by high damage mobs. --Hulkweazel (talk) 16:26, August 9, 2011 (UTC) The article doesn't take into account third party mods/fixes or gear made available through completion of DLC achievements. This is because the article is very old and out of date, so its relevance suffers. It also dismisses the importance of missile deflection and flanking, which is a fatal (literally) flaw. These things will kill a Two Handed warrior tank very quickly, especially on Nightmare mode. Since the article stresses the ability to maintain threat, dying would seem to be the greatest obstacle to reaching that goal. A Weapon and Shield tank is perfectly viable even in Nightmare mode, whether this tank is Alistair or the PC. A Weapon and Shield tank can also invest in Constitution instead of Dex, which carries over well to several new talents in Awakening. Constitution makes for a stronger Weapon and Shield tank in Awakening (far more so than Dex); the attribute of choice for a Two Handed warrior moving into Awakening is less clear since Dex will not help them. Kastagir (talk) 18:59, February 19, 2011 (UTC) :Just finished up Awakening, Diligence runes get you flanking immunity. I'm gonna try my next game using Ohgren as my main tank using 2H weapons on Nightmare. Should be interesting. He'll suffer from a lack of defense, but with the amount of +dodge items and Beyond the Veil, I doubt it's going to be a problem.-- (talk) 09:05, July 5, 2011 (UTC) Recommended attribute ratios for each build Would it be possible for experienced players to add in recommended attributes? It lists the order of importance for each attribute but doesn't give much detail on the "weight" of such importance: for example, for every 3 CON you should have 2.5 STR and 1 DEX and WILL, .5 MAG and never put anything into CUN. Teclo (talk) 11:35, March 1, 2011 (UTC) You should pump strength first so that you can use the strongest armors, I believe to around 42. However, the guide is wrong in saying CON is the most important stat for 1H + Shield. I haven't done actual testing myself, but do any google search on tanking in DA:O and the majority of people will tell you that DEX is better than CON for the defense. That's what I did, and my tank barely takes any hits at all in Nightmare difficulty. --Hulkweazel (talk) 16:34, August 5, 2011 (UTC) Terminology Irony While the term 'tank' is generic to gaming, going back to RPGs before computer gaming, it is interesting to note the irony in the term. Modern day tanks are indeed heavily armored, but they are principally ranged attackers. The warrior counterparts use melee weapons almost exclusively.